Report: Robbie Lawler returns to UFC, meets Josh Koscheck at UFC 157

Robbie Lawler will return to the UFC for the first time in more than eight years and gets a stiff test in his return in former welterweight title challenger Josh Koscheck.

Lawler (19-9 MMA, 4-3 UFC) also will return to 170 pounds for the fight with Koscheck (17-6 MMA, 15-6 UFC), which is set for UFC 157 in Anaheim, Calif. The Orange County Register first reported the booking, confirming the bout with UFC officials.

UFC 157 takes place Feb. 23 at Anaheim’s Honda Center. The pay-per-view card will be headlined by the first women’s bout in UFC history as bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey defends her belt against Liz Carmouche. A light heavyweight contenders fight between Dan Henderson and Lyoto Machida and a bantamweight bout between Urijah Faber and Ivan Menjivar also have been announced for the show.

Lawler left the UFC following a submission loss to Evan Tanner at UFC 50. He went on to win middleweight titles for Icon Sport and EliteXC before moving to Strikeforce in 2009 after a nearly yearlong layoff following EliteXC’s collapse.

In Strikeforce, Lawler’s run was up and down. He went 3-5 in the promotion, dropping fights to Jake Shields, Renato “Babalu” Sobral, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Tim Kennedy and Lorenz Larkin.

But when he was on, he was ferocious. His three wins were brutal first-round knockouts of Melvin Manhoef, Matt Lindland and Adlan Amagov, the most recent coming this past January. But a July unanimous decision loss to Larkin gave Lawler three losses in his past four fights.

He’ll look to rebound with the return to welterweight, where he fought for the first 10 bouts of his career, including a 4-1 start in the UFC that included a win over Chris Lytle. After a loss to Nick Diaz at UFC 47, he moved from welterweight tot middleweight for the fight with Tanner and, with the exception of a 182-pound catch weight fight against Shields and 195-pound catch weight bout against Sobral, has fought at 185 pounds ever since.

Koscheck was scheduled to fight Jake Ellenberger this past September, but was forced out of the fight with a back injury. Now he returns looking to get back in the win column after a split-decision loss to current welterweight title contender Johny Hendricks in May at UFC on FOX 3.

Koscheck was on the shelf for nine months after a unanimous decision loss to champion Georges St-Pierre at UFC 124 two years ago. But when he returned, he did so in a big way with a “Knockout of the Night” win over UFC Hall of Famer Matt Hughes at UFC 135.

After being booked for a fight with Carlos Condit at UFC 143, Koscheck instead fought Mike Pierce when Condit was moved into an interim welterweight title fight against Diaz. He beat Pierce by split decision and admitted to being uninspired with the matchup.

The loss to Hendricks was a contentious one. But Koscheck did what former teammate Jon Fitch and recent contender Martin Kampmann could not do against Hendricks by not only going the distance, but getting out of the first minute with him.